| |
|
The
medieval grid of Bury St Edmunds began to fill
with terraces in the 18th Century, and this fine
red brick chapel of 1711 must have once been much
more prominent than it is today, set back among
the houses of Churchgate Street. As is common, it
was built by a Presbyterian congregation who had
bought the site for the purpose in 1690. They
embraced Unitarianism early in the 19th Century,
and by the 1851 Census of Religious Worship, the
minister, one Henry Knott, could record that a
hundred people attended morning worship. This was
a modest number perhaps, compared with some of
the town's other non-conformist chapels, but the
Unitarians were a fashionable lot, and would have
had a fair number of local worthies among their
number. The frontage of the chapel is grand,
constructed of red brick with a huge, beautiful
doorway case in the same material. Above, an oval
window forms the main focus from the street and
lights the gallery within. There is a sundial
high above. In general, the building looks back
to the 17th Century more than it does forward to
the 18th.
There
was a major restoration towards the end of the
20th Century, and I don't think the building is
still in use for public worship. On the railings
outside are faded signs suggesting you might want
to hire it for a function, and the gates are
locked, which seems a pity.
|
|
|
